Dealing with school violence starts with parents

By Bryan Greeson

Published: Monday, April 29, 2013 at 05:17 PM.

With younger school children, reassurance is the key. School shootings are tragic – but rare. Thankfully, most days parents and children do not think about being unsafe in their schools – or anywhere else for that matter. It’s those times in which a school shooting is the news of the day in which youngsters can become upset, uncertain, and confused. The key is for parents to limit the exposure to such news events for young children. This is one situation in which more information is not better in order to promote understanding. Too much information, tragic scenes and eye witness accounts will only frighten young children.

For older elementary school aged children up to teens? It’s time to have frank conversations about what they should do if they hear a fellow student make comments that make them uncomfortable in regards to safety. You see, though so many people will share their disbelief that the perpetrator would “do such a thing” hindsight brings about comments, postings, and other hints that the individual was threatening to do harm.

Talk with your teen about what to do if they hear comments from a fellow student. Often students will state that they just didn’t think “he would really do anything like this” after an assault or that “I didn’t think the school would really do anything about it.” Nothing is further from the truth. Reassure your youngster that telling a school official and you any suspicious comments or actions is not tattling. It’s simply being a responsible citizen in times that call for action.

Bryan Greeson is a nationally certified school psychologist and serves as the Director of Special Services in York School District One.

Like many school districts across our nation, my own place of employment recently held a seminar on school safety for administrators and local law enforcement officials. The expert leading the session focused upon school assailants and shared with the group facts, insights and recommendations on how school officials can be better prepared for the unlikely yet possible day in which an intruder enters a school with the intent on afflicting as many causalities as possible before being stopped or taking his own life.

The presentation was energetic and well received.

The facts were informative.

The recommendations were thought provoking.

The mood? Those two and a half hours were among the most sobering I have spent in my career of 30 years. The absence of the usual friendly chatter as colleagues were leaving told me that I was not alone.

When you look at the statistics, schools across America are still a safe place for our children. But that doesn’t mean that school officials can sit back, relax, and just hope that a tragic event doesn’t take place in their district. School officials are working closely with law enforcement agencies to better secure school buildings and classrooms, conduct lockdown drills, and work with teachers, students and parents to be as prepared as one can be.

There continues to be a national debate on gun control, increasing police presence in schools, mental health services – and a host of other ideas and theories in combating this issue of school safety. What can you, as a mom or dad with kids in schools do to help address this concern?

With younger school children, reassurance is the key. School shootings are tragic – but rare. Thankfully, most days parents and children do not think about being unsafe in their schools – or anywhere else for that matter. It’s those times in which a school shooting is the news of the day in which youngsters can become upset, uncertain, and confused. The key is for parents to limit the exposure to such news events for young children. This is one situation in which more information is not better in order to promote understanding. Too much information, tragic scenes and eye witness accounts will only frighten young children.

For older elementary school aged children up to teens? It’s time to have frank conversations about what they should do if they hear a fellow student make comments that make them uncomfortable in regards to safety. You see, though so many people will share their disbelief that the perpetrator would “do such a thing” hindsight brings about comments, postings, and other hints that the individual was threatening to do harm.

Talk with your teen about what to do if they hear comments from a fellow student. Often students will state that they just didn’t think “he would really do anything like this” after an assault or that “I didn’t think the school would really do anything about it.” Nothing is further from the truth. Reassure your youngster that telling a school official and you any suspicious comments or actions is not tattling. It’s simply being a responsible citizen in times that call for action.

Bryan Greeson is a nationally certified school psychologist and serves as the Director of Special Services in York School District One.